Air conditioning



Dec. 22, 1936. Q F, BERAN 2,064,808

AIR CONDITIONING Filed Feb. 8, 1934 5l BY om ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES AIR CONDITIONING Charles F. Beran, Tuckahoe, N. Y., assgnor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application February 8, 1934,'Serial No. 710,305

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the air cooling and conditioning of chambers, such as spinning rooms, etc. of an artificial iilament manufacturing plant and relates more' particularly to the use of the 5 denuded air from which solvents or reagents have been recovered for cooling recirculating water that in turn conditions the air.

An object of this invention is to provide an economical liquid cooling plant that utilizes as a cooling medium algas that normally is released to the atmosphere.

Another object of the invention is an economical air conditioning plant which recirculates water as Na cooling med'4 Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description and drawing. In the drawing there is shown, diagrammatically and partly in section, one mode of a device for carrying out this invention.

This invention is described as particularly'ap- -plicable to air conditioning the spinning chambers l of a plant for the manufacture of filaments and yarns of `organic derivatives of cellulose. This invention, however, is'not limited thereto but may be employed as the means of air conditioning any room or chamber that is within a reasonable distance of a supply ofrelatively dry air that may or may not contain a small amount of objectionable odoriferous substances.

This invention has a great advantage over closed-coil or spraychamber air cooling devices in that it renders possible the conditioning of air by the use of water that is ata higher temperature than normally employed for such purpose. By employing this invention high pressure compressors and expansion chambers are eliminated. There is also utilized a cooling medium, the cooling properties of which are normally wasted.

According to this invention a relatively dry current of gas which may be cooled and which may or may not contain small amounts of vapors of organic materials that are not removed by commercial washers, is caused to flow countercurrent to a stream of wat'er or other liquid medium coming lfrom an air conditioning tower. This water or liquid by evaporation gives up partof its heat vto the dry gas that may be air yand vapors, thus becoming cooled. The water or liquid may be further cooled by thelow temperature ofthe gas if a cool gas is employed. The water or liquid in the cooled state enters a second water tower or air conditioning tower Where it flows countercurrent to air drawn from the room tov be cooled or from some source of fresh air. This air gives up 55 a part of its contained heat to the water and also becomes practically saturated with water vapor and while in the cooled water-saturated condition it is partly mixed with fresh air when necessary and then distributed to the room to be air condi- 50 tioned.

In the manufacture of articial laments from organic derivatives of cellulose and similarly in the manufacture of other cellulosic products, there are used solvents and the like that are volatile and that become admixed with quantities of air or other gases used as evaporative medium. To recover these solvents or reagents from such liquid or gaseous evaporative media, the mixture of gas or of liquid and vapors are processed in recovery plants. The vapors are separated and/or condensed, collected and puriiied, and the denuded air or gas exhausted from such recovery plant, and which, although depending on the recovery process in use, in most cases-would be cooler `and dryer, is released from the plant.

'Heretofora this cool and dry air or gas was released to the atmosphere as it contained traces of vapors of the organic solvents, obnoxious at times, that could not be removed in commercial scrubbers, and as the flow, humidity and tem-A peratures would be too uneven for practical air conditioning purposes such as supplying it directly to the chamber to be'conditioned.

To illustrate my invention, but without being limited thereto, a detailed description will be given in connection with the dry spinning of a plant which may be at a temperature of about 80 F. and have a relative humidity of 24%, i. e. about 58 F. wet.bulb temperature, is conducted into the' bottom of a Water tower and exhausted fromV the top. Flowing countercurrent to the gas, from the top of the tower, is 'a spray of water which may enter this tower at a temperature around 80 F. In paing through the tower the water is minutely mixed with vthe air or Igas to which it gives up some of its contained heat by evaporation of the water due to the dry condition of the air orgas. The. tower is made of a height such that the water upon reaching the bottom of the tower may attain a temperature of about 63 F.

The cooled water isconducted from the bottom of the tower by gravity or a pump to a second water tower. Between the two towers there may be interposed anauxiliary cooling means for cooling the water, which cooling means may be a brine tank or other similar means of articial- Iy cooling the water. There may be a by-pass for the water around this auxiliary cooling means as its use ls required only during extremely hot days.

Connect-ed with the bottom of the second tower is a duct which collects the air from the room to be cooled or from any source of fresh air supply. 'Ihis air is forced up the tower by means of suction or a pump countercurrent to the down# coming spray of water.` The air entering this tower may be of a temperature between 85 to 110 F. and have a relative humidity of 50%. Part of the contained heat of the air is lgiven up to the water so that it may leave the tower at about 68 F. and 95% relative humidity. 'This cooled water-saturated air is then conducted through suitable conduits and distributed in thel room or chamber to be cooled and air conditioned. 'Ihe air passing from the second tower to the room is approximately saturated air and it thereby acts to condition the room both by absorbing of heat from and thereby cooling the airof thel room to form a thermal equilibrium and by the water vapor it contains to form a desired humidity equilibrium with the air o f the room.

In the drawing there is disclosed a source of air and vapor I I coming from a solvent recovery plant or ,other source of cold and/or yrelatively dry air. The cold and/or dry air which may .contain residual amounts of solvent is drawn through a conduit I2 to the bottom of a water tower I3 that contains means I4 such as baffles for causing intimate contact of the air with a down` ward flowing stream of water or other liquid. 'Thev air, after taking up part of thek heat from the liquid by cooling and/or evaporation of the liquid, ls dra-wn from the top of the tower I3 bymeans of a suitable suction pump I6 and is pumped either to the atmosphere or back to the recovery plant to be recirculated therethrough.

The downward owing liquid in the tower I3 is preferably water; however, other liquids may be `used by employing closed coils in the second tower 22, so that there will be no direct contact between the air and the'liquid. Ihe water is showny as being admitted to the tower I3 by means of a distributing head I1. This water cooled by direct contact with the air is collected in the bottom I8 of. the tower I3 from which it flows, or is pumped by means not shown, 'through a pipe I9 to a distributing head 2I'in a second tower 22, having thereinbaflles 23 or other means for intimately `contacting .the water with a current of air blown or pumped up the tower. 'I'he water after absorbing heat from the air of the second tower 22 is collected at 24 from which it is 'pumped by means of aV` pump 26 through the line 2'I` and 28'back to the header I'I in the first tower I3.

The air forced through the second tower 22 'is drawn from'v the room or chamber to be conditioned by means of a pump 29 and conduits 3I having openings at suitable points in the room or the air may be drawn from the outside atmosphere. The air after'f being cooled and saturated with vapor in the second tower 2-2, is blown into the room or chamber through suitable vents and conduits as indicated on the drawing at 32 and 33.

There may be employed as many vents. 32A as desired and these may be distributed through the room in the manner of distributing air from a hot air furnace or like devices. The pumps I6 spective towers or each tower may be equipped with two pumps.

When the air in the room to be conditioned is warmed by an extraordinary large source of heat, asf'on an exceptionally hot summer day, the air from the recovery plant may not be 'sufcient to absorb alltheheat from the water as is required to keep the room at a normal temperature. For such emergencies there may beprovided a cold brine tank 34 and coil 35 through which the water coming from the first tower may be shunted on its way to the second tower by means of suitable valves 36, 31 and 38 and lines 39 and 4I. The brine tank may be cooled by a mechanical or other type of refrigerator not shown.

Other liquids than water may be employed by using the direct contact tower I3 and by substituting vfor the tower 22 a non-contacting heat exchanger in which theair is caused to pass around pipes`containing the liquid. 'Ihe liquid of the system may be replenished by any suitable means such as introducing it into the line 28 or directly into tower I3.

In place of using the baille plates I4 for intimately mixing'the air and vapor with the liquid there may be usedl a series of bubble plates customarily employed in absorption towers or fractionating columns. The relative location of one part of the device to the other is not important; thus the tower 22 may be above the tower I3 with the pump 26 inserted in the line I9. The towers I3 and 22 maybe on the same level with pumps in both lines I9 and 28.

, In place of using a single tower I3 there may be a series of such towers each with an individual supply of cool and/or dry gas through all of whichv the liquid is adapted to pass giving up a quantity' of its heat in each. yThere may also be a series of towers vI3 through which the same cool gas passes absorbing heat from a plurality of streams of liquid, each stream circulating through individual air cooling towers.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A process for conditioning the air of tex` tile manufacturing or. processing-rooms, which comprises passing a gaseous medium, which has been employed to remove solvents by evaporation from extruded products in a dryfspinnin'g process and has subsequently been cooled in a` manufacturing and processing rooms, which comprises passing dry air, which has been employed to remove solvents by evaporation from extruded products in a dry spinning process and has subsequently been cooled in a solvent recovery plant, whereby it has become dry, in direct contact with water, whereby the air .absorbs water vapor and thus lowers the temperature of said water, and subsequently passing the said :water in direct heat exchange with the 'air to be conditioned.

CHARLES F. BERAN. 

